Asked by: Polly Billington (Labour - East Thanet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of how much funding her Department provided for drama education in schools in the (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2023-24 financial year; and if she will make an assessment of the difference in (i) real terms and (ii) percentage terms between funding in the (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2010-11 financial year and that in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is clear that arts and music should be part of every child’s education.
The Independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will advise on how the department delivers a broader curriculum for every child, including subjects such as art and, music and drama. The department will also support children to study a creative or vocational subject to 16 and ensure accountability measures reflect this.
Schools have autonomy over how they spend their core funding and can decide how to best allocate their resources for the benefit of their students. The department does not provide schools with additional in-year funding for art, craft and design education, or for dance, drama or music education. Schools do not report back on the funding they have allocated to different subjects.
The total funding for mainstream schools in 2023/24 through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) and mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) was £44.3 billion. The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 2010 due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in 2018/2019.
Asked by: Polly Billington (Labour - East Thanet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of changes to levels of funding to music education in schools (a) in real terms and (b) as a percentage since 2010; and what the level of funding in 2010 is at current values.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is clear that arts and music should be part of every child’s education.
The Independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will advise on how the department delivers a broader curriculum for every child, including subjects such as art and, music and drama. The department will also support children to study a creative or vocational subject to 16 and ensure accountability measures reflect this.
Schools have autonomy over how they spend their core funding and can decide how to best allocate their resources for the benefit of their students. The department does not provide schools with additional in-year funding for art, craft and design education, or for dance, drama or music education. Schools do not report back on the funding they have allocated to different subjects.
The total funding for mainstream schools in 2023/24 through the dedicated schools grant (DSG) and mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) was £44.3 billion. The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 2010 due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in 2018/2019.
Asked by: Polly Billington (Labour - East Thanet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an estimate of how much funding to Thanet District Council has been cut since 2010 in (a) real terms and (b) as a percentage; and whether she has made an estimate of the potential current level of funding without the cuts.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We understand that improving how local government is funded is crucial to enabling councils to deliver for local residents and ensuring we can deliver our missions, and we acknowledge the real pressures faced by councils in dealing with demand for vital services. We will provide councils with more stability and certainty through moving towards multi-year funding settlements and by ending wasteful competitive bidding. This will ensure councils can plan their finances for the future properly, delivering better value for money for taxpayers.
For 2024/25, the Local Government Finance Settlement was £64.7 billion. For Thanet Council, this made available up to £20.3 million, an increase of £1.1 million, or 5.9% on 2023-24.
Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement. We want to hear from councils about the financial challenges they are facing and we are committed to improving the local government finance landscape in this Parliament.
Asked by: Polly Billington (Labour - East Thanet)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an estimate of how many creative industry businesses have closed (a) in Thanet District, (b) in Kent and (c) nationally since 2010.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Office for National Statistics suggests that between 2014 and 2022, the number of creative industry businesses that closed were:
Between 2010 and 2018 there were 344,105 creative industry business closures across the UK.
Asked by: Polly Billington (Labour - East Thanet)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the financial impact of reductions in arts funding provided by her Department since 2010 on the creative sector in (a) Thanet District, (b) Kent and (c) England.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of the Government’s “Creating Growth” plan, DCMS is undertaking a review of current and past funding for the arts, culture, and heritage sectors, which will include such an assessment on a national and regional level.